Have a wonderful Christmas

Yep, I've already started on the Monkey Stout and have already played Slade a couple of times today so whatever you're doing this holiday, do it safely and I hope you have a wonderful time.

Hopefully St Nick will leave something you really want under the tree.

The glory of old stuff

I've never been content living in the here-and-now. As far back as I can remember I dreamed of a different era... lived vicariously through the old objects left behind by others long gone. I had relatives who fuelled the fascination with the bygone, dusty and musty. Uncle Mac, who took my brother and I on memorable rides on the bench seat of his lowline Ford Consul (long after the last one had left Dagenham), slipping from port to starboard as we rumbled around north London's bends; and my grandad Poppa Fleming whose garage smelled of polish and leather and housed the mid-sixties Wolseley that would, at 18, become my post-test wheels.

And now, the best days are spent tinkering with old stuff. Today was one of those rare, crisp, sunny winter days that actually makes you glad to be in England. I played rockabilly to the kids as I made their their lunch (it makes them jump around in their seats; no modern music does.) Then I enjoyed a rare hour picking on my '63 Gretsch and actually worked out the breaks in Hank Harral's 'DJ Blues'... something I've been meaning to do for years.

After that I exposed the Dodge panel to the sunlight and took it on a brisk 20-miler, refreshing the fuel tank, warming the engine and rolling the wheels to avoid lay-up flat spots.

Choose old stuff. It will always make you happy.

Wild winds are blowing

There was an interesting documentary about Slade on British TV last night and though I'd seen stills of them in their 1969 skinhead days, I'd never seen this footage of them playing this track off their first album. Great band... and Noddy Holder's voice is one of the best in rock. I think their look in the glam era got in the way of how good they really were.

Get a hat, get ahead

New Otto truckers have just arrived! The first lot sold out really fast so we added some new colours:

Black/white
Red/white
Green/white
Maroon/white
Brown/tan
Blue/white

All with the GKM bulldog logo, mesh back, brass centre button and snap back. One size fits nearly all.

$25 including to shipping anywhere in the world. Buy yours HERE.

Winter hacking

Fortunately I don't need to ride for work all year round any more, but when I did, this '94 Hinckley Triumph Trident provided (almost) trouble-free winter thrashing for a number of years in London.

I loved it. But it must rank as one of the ugliest bikes I've ever owned.

Rewind: 2006

When Buzz and I first put my Pan together it looked like this for a couple of months before the back end lost some weight and width.

After many years doing this blog I am repeating myself ... sorry ... but I was really influenced by the early incarnation of Eric Webb's bike.

I still like this look.

Stock rock

It's winter, so thoughts inevitably turn to how to modify the Panhead for when the weather improves again.

This is how it looked when I bought it in 2009... and I must admit I sometimes weigh up returning it to stock.

We'll see.

Cock cakes and Christmas capers

My head still hurts. WWNWW.

Insta-winter

Bleak and beautiful here at the moment. Minus five last night. So I'm getting my head down indoors... got some new colour caps in next week and am working on some new tees.

Remember, we still have some small GKM wolfie tees on sale for just $15 including shipping. HERE.

Waisted

Just in time for this weekend's Black Widows raid on Santa's Grotto, my new belt arrived from Karl at KDS Designs.

Thanks mate. Perfect.

If you want something unique made in leather, metal or paint, now you know where to go.

Captain Oates

Super nice bike, super nice bloke.

This was from a shoot we did a couple of summers ago.

How are you Paul?

Follow my leader

Yep, Setzer was riding trad-style Knucks and Pans when everyone else was polishing their billet and seeing how many airbrushed skulls they could fit onto their tanks.

Lest we forget.

T-shirt sale... only SMALL left

Wow... tees were totally oversubscribed. I will have to refund many of you as the one 'M' and few 'XL's went almost immediately and will be allocated in order of payment.

Last few tees... on sale, $15 shipped

We have a few 'oily rag' tees left: about six in small, a couple in xtra large... plus one medium!

On sale now for Christmas: $15 including shipping to you, anywhere. When they're gone, they're gone.

HERE.

LSK 951

Where are you now?

Like an old girlfriend who treated me badly I never wanted to see you again... but sometimes I wonder.

Beautiful day today

Uncovered the Dodge and stretched its legs in the winter sunlight... to a secret location and back.

Don't wish your time away

I know, I know... but it's hard not wishing away the cold, dark winter days when your mind wanders to next year's road trips.

There is lots to look forward to in 2013 and lots more of this (above, me and Con on the way back from Germany)... riding with friends, with all you need packed in a bag, to places unknown.

My '52 gearbox is being rebuilt by Richard Millard at the moment... will soon be back on the road to catch those rare winter days when it isn't icy and wet.

Head warmers

Terry Godschalk's shovel-in-a-VL-frame is nearly done... which means it will soon be gracing the pages of GKM.

Can't wait. This bike is really something else!

And if you want a hat like Terry's to keep your brain pan from freezing now the snow's here, we still have a few GKM trucker hats left in the store, in red/white and black/white... HERE.

Love is in the air...

...winging its way to you, Boris, in Germany; you, Yoshi, in Japan; and you, Wayne, in Australia.

If you're a UK subscriber, the new issue should be hitting your doormat today or tomorrow.

Let me know what you think of the new one.

Let me tell you about Sweden

The Stranglers didn't think much of Sweden. Perhaps it was a different place when Hugh Cornwell lived there in the early seventies. He evidently isn't into bikes; he left the motorcycling to Jean-Jacques.

To prove The Stranglers wrong we are going to publish a feature on this bitchin' Triumph chopper, bought to our attention by our mate Ulf Forsberg. It's not just the clouds that are interesting on the eastern front.

I wrote a letter to the NME about The Stranglers in 1977 – I was a big fan – but they didn't publish it.

Broken bones

What is it with accidents and broken bones recently?

First my friend Roger in Oz broke both arms a few weeks ago when a car turned suddenly in front of him... his newly built Shovel now needs rebuilding again. Then my wife broke her ankle when our son suddenly stopped his scooter in front of her. And then I heard that Caleb Owens had broken his leg in a bike accident in LA.

Caleb as you know is a top-notch bike builder; he is an intelligent and nice man who is talented in many other areas too, working in the movie business and making his own beautifully crafted parts. I cnn't to claim to know him well, but well enough to appreciate how difficult it must be for such a focused and busy guy – with a new baby – to deal with a bad accident like this, even without the pain and rehab that goes with it.

My thoughts are with him and everyone out there who is down but not out. Heal soon. Roll on 2013.

Geezers in a boozer

Pat and I made a tour of Brighton's finest imbibing establishments on Saturday night. It is a great town for, er, going out on the town.

Local ales and a Rock-Ola with Jack Earls and Lighnin' Hopkins on it? Heaven.